tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post4534096475060306031..comments2024-03-28T02:36:36.432-04:00Comments on Writers Who Kill: Running WaterJim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-60044914621998859882015-10-20T17:57:29.699-04:002015-10-20T17:57:29.699-04:00Thanks, Jim. You're absolutely correct. Infras...Thanks, Jim. You're absolutely correct. Infrastructure is invisible, until it's not there. Then, you realize its value. I hope preventative measures can be encouraged.<br /><br />Grace, that is so true. I remember E.B. Davis' post on riptides. Water can be incredibly damaging when you don't realize the extent of what is coming.<br /><br />Margaret, thank you. I watch the news now with new empathy for those in harm's way from natural disasters.<br /><br />Carla, I still find it hard to believe I can't travel Rockbridge Road, which I've done for almost my whole life. It's astonishing. Glad your damage was contained.<br /><br />Me, too, Sarah! We're all doing a lot of hand holding and supporting for those who lost everything.<br /><br />Kait, you are exactly right! The situation haunts you. You think back what you were able to do a week before and it all seems surreal.<br /><br />Susan, I am so glad you and Ricky are okay. Yes. Clean water is a wonderful thing!<br /><br />Warren, thank you.<br /><br />Kara, how terrifying. I've heard of the power of desert flash floods. After watching our streets fill with water and wash cars away, I think I understand better now.<br /><br />Gloria, the blocked streets are both frustrating and frightening. At a certain point, you wonder if there is a way around or a way back. All the people who came to B'con from south of Florence had to take about a 200 mile detour because a part of I-95 was closed. It's so hard to imagine an interstate being closed to traffic!<br /><br />Shari, being with you, Gloria, Kathleen, and Jan helped me to relax and remember the joy of friendship. Thank you all for the wonderful times we had in Raleigh. It was a relief and delight! <br />Paula Gail Bensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08843350597811462936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-31905733577146038872015-10-20T16:41:30.438-04:002015-10-20T16:41:30.438-04:00Paula, my heart goes out to all those affected by ...Paula, my heart goes out to all those affected by the flood. As Carla said, you all are going to be dealing with the effects of the flood for a long time.<br />I remember many blizzards growing up in CT - especially the Blizzard of 78 when we lost power for days. Since I was a teenager, I found it rather fun to be "camping" in our house, sleeping by the fireplace, but I am sure my parents weren't so enthralled.<br />More recently we had the hurricane in northern VA -can't remember the name, but power and water were out for three or four days. Living without water for more than a day or so moves from being a hassle to a major concern pretty quickly. That was just a minor taste of what SC is dealing with.<br />Glad you soldiered on and came up to Bouchercon!Shari Randallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16425493627354028820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-42866759553007436202015-10-20T13:17:02.189-04:002015-10-20T13:17:02.189-04:00What a touching account of what you and others wen...What a touching account of what you and others went through, Paula. It's nice to see that in times of crisis, how many people are willing to help anyway they can. <br /><br />Although, there was once a horrible tornado that went through my county, it never came close to me. I know some people who live close to the Mahoning River and several nearby creeks have flooding at times, but I'm not near running water of any kind. Once I couldn't deliver mobile meals to a couple on my route because the whole area was flooded. I found out later they'd heard the warnings and had gone to a motel before the river left its banks. I remember trying numerous ways to get to them on different side streets and all were blocked off.Gloria Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581719606924364447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-54750752728236728482015-10-20T12:34:15.809-04:002015-10-20T12:34:15.809-04:00Water is powerful! I remember flash floods in the ...Water is powerful! I remember flash floods in the Arizona desert. One time I opened the car door and saw water pour down a hill. All of a sudden it was inside the car. The water flowed so quickly that I barely had time to react. It was frightening and humbling. My thoughts are with everyone affected by this (hopefully) 1000-year event.Kara Cerisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16484336785514235707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-13622483670298615792015-10-20T12:23:44.452-04:002015-10-20T12:23:44.452-04:00Thanks for reminding us about what really is impor...Thanks for reminding us about what really is important.Warren Bullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07789270258599769915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-38002511676175936132015-10-20T12:08:54.233-04:002015-10-20T12:08:54.233-04:00Such a good, emotive description of the flood, Pau...Such a good, emotive description of the flood, Paula. We didn't suffer damage - only had to boil water for a week - but it was horrible watching the event play out on the TV and seeing our neighbors' and friends' homes and cars being swept away. I've heard rescue stories that make me flinch. The road beside our church has a 20 foot wide gap in it, and according to a work priority list I saw yesterday, the road won't be repaired until after Thanksgiving. Good, clean, fresh water - YAY - we take a lot for granted.Susan Crafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00922171469364860239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-24942397301414172532015-10-20T10:08:49.713-04:002015-10-20T10:08:49.713-04:00Oh, Paula, so heartbreaking. I followed the floods...Oh, Paula, so heartbreaking. I followed the floods on the Internet news knowing how awful it is to be a flood victim. Took me a longtime before heavy rain didn't frighten me enough to make me want to stay home. I still see the water swirling around my apartment and feel the pain of slashing my hand when I broke the window in my front door to gain entry. My dogs were inside, I had to get them out. They were the only valuable I thought to save. There they were, my German Shepherd swimming in the water with the terrier in his mouth. Excluding loss of life --in many ways flood losses are worse than fire, hurricane, or other natural disaster. Flood losses have the unique ability to give you hope. You are certain you can salvage many items, especially keepsakes, then you discover the water wins after all. So sad. Glad all are well in your family, and proud of the WWK bloggers for helping out.Kaithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07758348842858993203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-88416920832978711842015-10-20T10:06:14.665-04:002015-10-20T10:06:14.665-04:00I'm so glad all of you are OK! What a powerful...I'm so glad all of you are OK! What a powerful column, Paula. I hope that the rebuilding effort goes smoothly. I grew up in Kansas but never really had to deal with tornadoes too much, however, when I moved to South Florida, I saw several hurricanes, including Frances, Wilma and Jeanne. We lost power every time and the clean up was never fun, specifically for Wilma, which hit when we owned a house. There were houses down the street with gaping holes in their roofs that made them look like dollhouses. But we were very lucky to have an old 1926 Key West-style wood home that had seen that sort of storm many times before and was very good at the expansion and contraction necessary to avoid took much damage.Sarah Henninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06822639126179367121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-39441916931221567882015-10-20T08:36:56.432-04:002015-10-20T08:36:56.432-04:00Well said, Carla. I think that from now on, those ...Well said, Carla. I think that from now on, those of us who live in SC will divide time this way: what happened before the flood, and what happened after. <br />We're gonna be dealing with the "after" for a long, long time.<br />carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15985823239660829148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-67805913627375597952015-10-20T08:31:57.617-04:002015-10-20T08:31:57.617-04:00Hurricanes (east coast), tornadoes (Midwest), fore...Hurricanes (east coast), tornadoes (Midwest), forest fires (Los Angeles), ice storms (Atlanta), and picking up the pieces for Tulane students after Katrina...but never the devastation South Carolina experienced. Stay well and dry.Margaret S. Hamiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07979191318652199350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-14654012142388705052015-10-20T08:20:22.444-04:002015-10-20T08:20:22.444-04:00Thanks, Paula, for a moving account of your experi...Thanks, Paula, for a moving account of your experiences and those of your neighbors. It goes to show you that water can be our best friend or our worst enemy.Grace Toppinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10291304815273486038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-79108281778257114842015-10-20T07:41:44.382-04:002015-10-20T07:41:44.382-04:00Two things struck me about the South Carolina cata...Two things struck me about the South Carolina catastrophe. The first is that we seem to be having a lot of 100-year, 500-year and 1,000-year weather events recently. Perhaps it is only big-event-memory bias: we remember those things far from our experience because they are big events and overemphasize them in our memories. Thus I remember the 1 in a thousand event and ignore the 999 in 1,000 events. But perhaps these events are harbingers of the kinds of weather trauma that are predicted side-effects of globally warmer oceans.<br /><br />The second thing that strikes me is that much (not all) of the damage was caused by infrastructure failure. In New Orleans and Katrina, the levees were insufficient for the task and caused the major flooding, not the hurricane itself. In Columbia, that much rain would certainly have caused flooding, but it was the dams breaking that caused the major damage. In the penny wise/pound foolish approach to governmental expenditures, we quickly approve money for disaster relief, but are unwilling to approve money for disaster prevention.<br /><br />In times such as these, we see on display the best and worst of human nature. I'll choose to remember your stories of the best. Glad you and my other SC friends all made it through okay.<br /><br />~ JimJim Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.com